Voting game

ABSTRACT

A voting game having a ballot box board on which is mounted a plurality of manually operative gear-actuating mechanisms. Each mechanism includes a handle which is depressed to move an integral pinion gear having gear teeth only for a portion of its circumference which in turn mesh with the gear teeth of a larger gear for rotating the larger gear in incremental angular steps. The larger gear having a decal with sequential numerals located around its peripheral face for viewing through a window located on the board. The pinion gear includes a coaxial integral circular wheel on which is located two detents on its circumferential face portion and in which a single-leaf flat spring, connected to the board, extends to drop within these detents to control the movement of the handle from a first to a second position for registering a vote when the handle is depressed. In addition, coaxial to the pinion gear is a main spring permitting continuous rotation of the handle when the flat spring is lifted off the detents.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Carmela Peters 31 E. Gramercy Place. Glen Rock, NJ. 07452 [21 Appl. No. 784,636 [22] Filed Dec. 18, 1968 [45] Patented Aug. 24, 1971 [54] VOTING GAME 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52} U.S. Cl 46/47, 235/l.3 [51] lnt.Cl 1 ..A63h 31/00 [50] Field ofSearch 46/47, 1; 235/1 .3, 235; 273/30 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 324,002 8/1885 Brown 235/l.3 500,948 7/1893 Richards 235/56 1,088,486 2/1914 Trinks 235/l.3 1,594,016 7/1926 MarshalL. 273/130X 2,351,814 6/1944 Holzner 235/1.3

Young 235/13 X ABSTRACT: A voting game having a ballot box board on which is mounted a plurality of manually operative gear-actuating mechanisms. Each mechanism includes a handle which is depressed to move an integral pinion gear having gear teeth only for a portion of its circumference which in turn mesh with the gear teeth of a larger gear for rotating the larger gear in incremental angular steps. The larger gear having a decal with sequential numerals located around its peripheral face for viewing through a window located on the board. The pinion gear includes a coaxial integral circular wheel on which is located two detents on its circumferential face portion and in which a single-leaf flat spring, connected to the board, ex tends to drop within these detents to control the movement of the handle from a first to a second position for registering a vote when the handle is depressed. In addition, coaxial to the pinion gear is a main spring permitting continuous rotation of the handle when the flat spring is lifted off the detents.

PATENTEU A0224 ml SHEET 1 OF 2 [I I [I E f E f U [I E i E f ARMELA PETERS ATTORNEY VOTING GAME SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to toys or games and particularly to a voting game which simulates the operation of a full-scale voting machine.

In a voting game of the type to which this invention is directed, a voting ballot box board supports a plurality of mechanisms with each mechanism having a lever-type handle which a voter can depress in voting for a candidate of his choice. The handle moves an integral pinion gear that has teeth only for a portion of its circumference which in turn mesh with gear teeth of a larger gear. Each time the handle is depressed the pinion gear operably drives the larger gear an incremental angular distance. The larger gear having a decal on its circumferential face portion with sequential numerals ateach incremental angular distance for viewing through a window located on the board.

This apparatus provides for a toy or for a voting game which is both instructive and educational and which has a realistic appearance as a ballot box voting machine to simulate the operation of a full-scale voting machine and which may be inexpensively manufactured and conveniently assembled and disassembled.

Further advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following descriptions and claims and may be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, which by way of illustration shows a preferred embodiment of the invention and what it is now considered to be the best mode of applying the principles thereof. Other embodiments of the invention may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention so set forth in the appendant claims.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the overall voting ballot box game in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention;

. FIG. 2 is a top view showing one voting mechanism of the invention, taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the mechanism of FIG. 2 with portions removed to show details; and,

FIG. 4 is a front view showing in detail a portion of the mechanism of FIGS. 2 and 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, the voting game includes a voting ballot box board supporting a plurality of voting mechanisms 12. Each mechanism is provided with a handle 14 having a lever 16 a knob 18 and a shaft 20 supported on the board 10. The voting mechanisms 12 are shown in a second position, after the voters have depressed the handles 14. FIG. 1 further shows a window 22 through which the numbers on a large rotatable gear, hereinafter more fully described, can be viewed after the handle 14 is depressed for registering a vote. The mechanism 12 further includes a reset knob 24 which permits rotation of the large rotatable gear until the zero number on the large gear is registered for viewing through the window in the reset operation. In addition, this reset knob 24 may be held open, permitting the actuation of the crazy voter feature hereinafter more fully described.

As can be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein the voting mechanism 12 is shown, the shaft 20 extends through the board 10 to a round detent disc 26 supported for rotation with the shaft 20. Coaxially supported on the shaft 20 with the detent disc 26 is a pinion gear 28 having teeth 30 for only a portion of its circumference, as best shown in FIG. 3. ln cooperative rotation with the gear 28 is a larger gear 32 having teeth 34 completely around its circumference for intermitting engagement with the teeth 30 of the pinion gear 28. On the radially outwardly circumferential face of the gear 32 is fixed a decal 36 having numerals from zero to nine. These numerals can be seen through the window 22 when viewed from the front portion of the voting board 10 as viewed in FIG. 1. Referring additionally to FIG. 4, coaxially attached to a shaft 38, which supports gear 32, is a circularwheel 40. As the larger gear 32 is rotated in a counterclockwise angular direction for an incremental step, by gear 28 which is rotated in a clockwise direction when the handle 14 is depressed, as shown by arrows 42, 44, and 46, respectively, a spring-loaded antireversal unit 48, attached to the back of the board 10, is actuated by one of a plurality of radially extending stops 50. One stop 50 is provided, on wheel 40, for each of the 10 numerals on the decal 36. The antireversal unit 48 provides for a definite incremental angular distance that gear 32 travels to align each numeral in front of the window 22. That is, when the gear 32 is moved by the pinion gear 28 in one numerical angular distance, by the gear teeth 30 of the pinion gear 28 engaging the gear teeth 34 of the gear 32, the unit 48 engages one stop 50 to locate the gear 32 in an exact numerical position.

As shown in FIG. 4 the antireversal unit 48 comprises a spring-loaded laterally slidable tab or pawl 52 which is supported in a pair of guides 54, 56 that in turn support a spring 58 by attaching means such as bolt 60 connected on one guide 56. As the gear 32 moves in a counterclockwise direction, as shown by arrow 42, the stop 50 engages the pawl 52 to move it in the direction shown by arrow 62 against the spring 58 which in turn moves in a direction shown by arrow 64. The radially extending stops 50 extend from the wheel 40 to contact the antireversal unit 48 at each numerical angular movement of the gear 32.

Basically, the antireversal unit prevents the voter from reversing the handle 14 to reset the numbers. In addition, it prevents the gear 32 from rotating in a clockwise direction, while at the same time, positions the numbers exactly within the viewing window 22 at each incremental rotation of the revolving gear 32.

The movement of the handle 14 is controlled by the detent disc 26 which has a pair of detents 70 and 72 which are spaced 90 from each other for receiving a hooked end 74 of a singleleaf flat detent spring 76, as best shown in FIG. 3.

To actuate the crazy voter" feature of this invention, the reset knob 24 is rotated clockwise, as shown by arrow 78, about pivot to rotate an integral L-shaped tab 82 and thereby free the detent disc 26 from the flat detent spring 76. The detent disc 26, the gears 28 and 32 and the handle 14 may freely rotate by means of an end-wound main spring 84 attached to the shaft 20. That is, by rotating the reset knob 24 in a clockwise direction, the L-hshaped tab 82 raises the spring 76 as shown in phantom in FIG. 3 to completely release the gear 28, the gear 28 with the handle 14 will rotate in a clockwise direction until the main spring 84 is completely unwound or the reset knob 24 is released, permitting the hooked end 74 of the spring 76 to engage one of the detents 70, 72. The spring 84 may be rewound by a spring-wind key 86 supported on a backboard 88. The backboard 88 also supports the shafts 20 and 38 of pinion gear 28 and gear 32, respectively.

In the operation of this system each spring 84 of each mechanism 12 is wound by the winding key 86. Each voter then depresses the handle 14 for the candidate of his choice whose name may be marked on the board 10 in front of each mechanism 12 such as by a nameplate above each window. In each case, when the handle 14 is depressed, the hooked end 74 of the detent spring 76 is lifted and it automatically falls into the next detent. That is, the hooked end 74 of the spring 76 will move from the detent 72 to the detent 70, in the position shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. The vote is then registered in the viewing window by the numbers on the decal 36 located on the revolving gear 32.

The handle 14 cannot be reversed in a counterclockwise rotation because of the antireversal unit. To reset the handle can be turned clockwise or moved by rotating the reset knob 24 slightly clockwise and the handle will come to rest in the next detent. In addition, the number zero can be set by holding the reset knob 24 in a clockwise position. After the voting is completed, and before resetting the system, the voting can be counted by reading the final number through each window 22.

To actuate the crazy voter" feature; that is, to rotate the system continuously as hereinbefore described, the reset knob 24 is rotated clockwise until the spring 76 releases the detent disc 26. The detent disc 26 with the handle 14 and gears 28 and 32 will then spin freely by the action of the spring 84. This crazy voter" feature rotation can be stopped at will by the operator by releasing the reset knob 24, permitting the spring end 74 to fall within the detent 70 or detent 72. This feature of the crazy voter is used for certain toys or games and it is very pleasant to see the numbers pass the viewing window 22, and at the same time to see the handles 14 continuously spin around as the reset knobs 24 are held in a clockwise position.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many variations be made in the details of the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A voting game comprising a voting ballot box board having a plurality of viewing windows, and a voting mechanism associated with each window, said mechanism further comprising a lever handle, a pinion gear having teeth for a portion of its circumference operably rotatable a predetermined angular distance by depressing said handle, a second gear having a shaft rotatably supported in the ballot box board and having teeth around its circumference operably meshing with the teeth of said pinion gear for moving said second gear an incremental angular distance each time said handle is depressed, a decal having sequential numbers located at each incremental angular distance around the frontal circumferential face of said second gear for viewing through the window of said ballot box board, a detent disc coaxially supported for rotation on the shaft of said second gear and having a pair of detents on its circumference, a single-leaf flat spring supported by said board at one end and having a hooked other end for engaging each detent of said detent disc for movement of said handle from the first to the second position, an antireversal unit attached to the ballot box board and interposed between said ballot box board and said second gear operably preventing the rotation ofsaid second gear or reversal of said handle, while at the same time positioning the numbers on said decal substantially in line with the viewing window, at each incremental angular distance said second gear is rotated, a spring-loaded laterally slidable pawl, stop means supported on said second gear whereby said pawl engages said stop means for positiom ing the numbers on said decal in line with the viewing window and holding said gear from rotation, and further wherein said antireversal unit includes a pair of guides, a tab laterally slidably supported within said guides, a spring urging said tab towards said second gear and a stop means supported on said second gear for engaging said tab for positioning said decal.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said stop means is a circular wheel including a plurality of radially extending stops, one stop for each of the numbers of said decal.

3. The structure of claim 1 further comprising an end wound main spring in contacting relation with said pinion gear for operably providing rotation of said pinion gear when said detent spring is released.

4. The structure of claim 3 further comprising a reset knob for releasing said detent spring by lifting it off the detents of said detent disc thereby operably releasing the detent disc for rotation of said pinion gear which in turn rotates said handle and said second gear whereby said handle will continuously spin around and said second wheel will rotate in angular incremental angles while the numbers continuously change in the viewing windows.

5. The structure of claim 4 further comprising a first shaft supporting said pinion gear in contacting relation with said main spring and said detent disc and a second shaft supporting said second gear with the stop wheel of said antireversal unit thereby interconnecting the elements of said voting mechanism through the operation of said handle and said reset 

1. A voting game comprising a voting ballot box board having a plurality of viewing windows, and a voting mechanism associated with each window, said mechanism further comprising a lever handle, a pinion gear having teeth for a portion of its circumference operably rotatable a predetermined angular distance by depressing said handle, a second gear having a shaft rotatably supported in the ballot box board and having teeth around its circumference operably meshing with the teeth of said pinion gear for moving said second gear an incremental angular distance each time said handle is depressed, a decal having sequential numbers located at each incremental angular distance around the frontal circumferential face of said second gear for viewing through the window of said ballot box board, a detent disc coaxially supported for rotation on the shaft of said second gear and having a pair of detents on its circumference, a single-leaf flat spring supported by said board at one end and having a hooked other end for engaging each detent of said detent disc for movement of said handle from the first to the second position, an antireversal unit attached to the ballot box board and interpoSed between said ballot box board and said second gear operably preventing the rotation of said second gear or reversal of said handle, while at the same time positioning the numbers on said decal substantially in line with the viewing window, at each incremental angular distance said second gear is rotated, a spring-loaded laterally slidable pawl, stop means supported on said second gear whereby said pawl engages said stop means for positioning the numbers on said decal in line with the viewing window and holding said gear from rotation, and further wherein said antireversal unit includes a pair of guides, a tab laterally slidably supported within said guides, a spring urging said tab towards said second gear and a stop means supported on said second gear for engaging said tab for positioning said decal.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said stop means is a circular wheel including a plurality of radially extending stops, one stop for each of the numbers of said decal.
 3. The structure of claim 1 further comprising an end-wound main spring in contacting relation with said pinion gear for operably providing rotation of said pinion gear when said detent spring is released.
 4. The structure of claim 3 further comprising a reset knob for releasing said detent spring by lifting it off the detents of said detent disc thereby operably releasing the detent disc for rotation of said pinion gear which in turn rotates said handle and said second gear whereby said handle will continuously spin around and said second wheel will rotate in angular incremental angles while the numbers continuously change in the viewing windows.
 5. The structure of claim 4 further comprising a first shaft supporting said pinion gear in contacting relation with said main spring and said detent disc and a second shaft supporting said second gear with the stop wheel of said antireversal unit thereby interconnecting the elements of said voting mechanism through the operation of said handle and said reset knobs. 